Kate Hudson and her ex-husband Chris Robinson presented a united front of parental pride as their son Ryder graduated from New York University (NYU) this week. Ryder, 22, reportedly studied both acting and music, echoing the careers of his movie star mother and his father, the lead singer of the Black Crowes.
He posed flanked by both parents in a heartwarming photo outside Radio City Music Hall, where NYU's Tisch School of the Arts held its graduate ceremony. Clad in cap and gown, Ryder was also joined by his siblings: his brother Bingham, 14, and sister Rani, seven, via his mother, and his sister Cheyenne, 16, via his father.
Hudson welcomed Bingham with her ex-boyfriend Matt Bellamy of Muse fame and brought Rani into the world with her current partner Danny Fujikawa. Meanwhile, Robinson shares Cheyenne with Allison Bridges, his third wife.
Ryder was surrounded by loved ones in photos his mother posted, including his maternal grandparents Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell. Although Hudson's biological father is singer Bill Hudson, Russell has been with Hawn for four decades and is the man Hudson refers to as 'Pa.'
Hawn and Russell were pictured with Ryder and Hudson in a photo the latter included in her new Instagram album, captioned: 'My college graduate!!!!!!' Fujikawa, whom Hudson has been with for nearly a decade, was also featured, cradling their daughter Rani. Rani could be glimpsed helping her mother with her makeup as they prepared for the ceremony.
A quarter-century ago, Hudson and Robinson moved in together just a week into their whirlwind romance and married on New Year's Eve 2000. Hudson, a 'nepo baby,' had shot to Hollywood prominence three months earlier in Almost Famous, while Robinson was over a decade into his rock stardom. Not three years after their wedding, performed by a shaman from the Ute tribe, Hudson offered a glimpse into their tempestuous relationship.
'In the beginning we were so volatile,' she confessed to People in 2003. 'We were so in love and passionate, and then we would just hate each other and throw stuff around, and then we would travel to Paris for a week.' Their son's birth the following year caused Hudson to reflect: 'We're sharing something so gigantic now. I think it's the best we've ever felt being together.'
The couple separated in 2006 and finalized their divorce in 2007, but Hudson retained an amicable relationship with Robinson as they raised their son. 'When I met Chris it was like nothing else; I had no question that I was going to have a kid with him,' she told the Times Online in 2009. 'Every rule went out the window.' Hudson reflected on their bond as Ryder's parents: 'Whoever he ends up with, whoever I end up with, we'll always be together.'
